Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted no fewer than 66 parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, packaged as green tea at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
The seizure, made on Thursday, June 5, was based on credible intelligence received ahead of the arrival of the consignment at the cargo wing of the airport on May 11.
The NDLEA had watch-listed the shipment and sustained surveillance around it for over three weeks before inviting other stakeholders for a joint examination last Thursday.
The Loud consignment, weighing 62.20kg, was concealed inside wraps of green tea that came from Thailand via UAE on an Emirates Airlines flight.
In another operation in Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Monday, June 2, intercepted a consignment of 1,665kg skunk, a strain of cannabis, along Lekki-Ajah expressway. Two suspects, Gidado Abdulrasaq Ayinde and Obanla Oluwafemi, were promptly arrested in connection with the seizure.
In Kaduna, operatives of the state command of NDLEA, on patrol along Abuja-Kaduna expressway on Tuesday, June 3, arrested 29-year-old Goodluck Nnaemeka with 612 bottles of codeine-based syrup and 2,970 pills of flunitrazepam. In another operation on the same day, a 52-year-old wanted drug dealer, Kabiru Musa (a.k.a. KB), was arrested at Kurmin Mashi. A total of 25.7kg skunk was earlier recovered from his base.
While a total of 9kg Loud was recovered from the spare tyre compartment of an Audi station wagon car marked AAA 975 XU, driven by Atari Israel, 45, along Auchi road, Edo State, two young ladies, Favour Joy and Joy Igwe, were on Tuesday, June 3, nabbed at Ikpoba Hill area of Benin City. Recovered from them were: 106.57kg skunk; 1kg Loud; 800 grams Colorado; and 302 grams of methamphetamine.
The War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy activities by NDLEA Commands continued across the country in the past week.
Some of them include: WADA sensitisation lecture delivered to students and staff of Sir Usman Nagogo College of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Katsina; Fountain of Knowledge International Academy, Abakaliki, Ebonyi; Prof. Eyo Ita Municipal Model Primary School, Calabar, Cross River; Millennium High School, Egbeda, Lagos; and Community Secondary School, Ichida Anaocha, Anambra; while Zone 13 Command of NDLEA paid a WADA advocacy visit to the Amayanabo of Nembe kingdom, Dr. Edmund Dakoru, Mingi XII, in Nembe, Bayelsa State, among others.
While commending the officers and men of MMIA, Lagos, Kaduna, and Edo Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), also praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for pursuing a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.